Embodiments of the inventive subject matter generally relate to the field of communication networks, and, more particularly, to a power save mechanism for low-power network devices in a communication network.
Various communication networks include low-power network devices (e.g., sensors, door locks, etc.) that are typically battery powered. To conserve power, certain low-power network devices enter a sleep mode for a certain duration and periodically wake up to check any network activity (e.g., receive data, update address tables, send data, etc.). Increasing the sleep mode duration for the low-power devices can further improve power savings. In some cases, low-power devices can utilize Internet Protocol (IP) for data transfer. However, when a low-power device remains in the sleep mode for a prolonged period, the IP connection between the low-power device and an access point of the network may be lost, and re-establishing the IP connection can involve significant overhead.